Sunday, 22 April 2012

I am seriously deafened while writing this and am having to contend with a tail swishing over the keyboard. Magic is sitting on the table 'protecting' me from the exceptionally loud police helicopter sitting right above our street. As soon as it appeared Magic got up and came to head bump and paw me and sit beside me. It is funny but is she sitting with her back to me so that she can be watching and assessing the situation. I can stroke her and she will try to groom my hair but she wont let me hold her as she wants to be ready for action. What a wee love she is.

I've no idea what is going on but it has been there for the past 40mins or so and is low enough to blow the roof tiles off, as if we need that again, and the birds outside are going ballistic. Red, predictably, has legged it and is missing-in-inaction again!

As I've said before although this is an urban area we are fairly light on entertainment. So unsurprisingly the place is awash with dog walkers doing an unsheduled walk, bewildered children being dragged very slowly for a pre-bedtime stroll and I've even seen some elderly folk perambulating up the main road with their roller frames.

It is still there and though it has moved once or twice it is still there and VERY loud. I can only hope they find what they are looking for or run out of kerosene and need to go to be refuelled.

Update:Wonders will never cease, an hour into this ruddy annoyance, Red reappeared with eyes like saucers, sadly it was all too much for him and he legged it again. Still, he did try and you've got to love him for that.

One Morning Red was knocking hell out of fur mouse at stupid O'clock and using me as a trampoline. I was too tired to do anything about it so when he next passed I grabbed the mouse and tucked it under the covers with me. Hardly hygienic but it did allow me some more precious sleep before getting up. That same night it was obviously cold and Magic reckoned under the covers was better than at the foot of the bed. I dislike cats in beds and am constantly changing the pillowcases and bedding or covering it with fleece blankets however, as I am used to cats sleeping at the bottom of the bed and moving around I sometimes don't notice when Magic decides to avail herself of the warm underside of the covers. This morning it made me laugh as when I woke I was accompanied by a fur mouse and a cat who looked seriously disgusted at the mousey intruder. This meant there were three bods in the room that morning who were not impressed with their bedmates. Red was bereft as his mouse had been stolen, Magic looked affronted by the mouse and I was unchuffed at having either sleeping companion.

Despite the fact that both cats sleep at the bottom of the bed during the winter before they settle down they vie for supremacy over who will sit where. Usually Red likes the top of the wardrobe but on this night he'd had a go at Magic so she stole his favourite space in revenge. Red was so annoyed he didnt think what he was doing and leapt past Magic so that they were both on the wardrobe and worse, he was on the long drop side! They both did a bit of growling and posturing but realised I think(!) that they were a little stuck and it was a little too dangerous for their usual shenanigans. I was horrified and tried to intervene but they were too high to do anything meaningful. I had visions of broken legs and multiple injuries.

Interestingly they resolved it by turning their heads away, like they do when sharing the bed, and pretending the other didn't exist. Who knew cats were just like politicians!

Like all cats Red reckons he is invisible if he is under something and is looking at the floor. I was sorting out the clean white laundry for folding when he hopped onto the little shelf under the table which he reckoned made him invisible. When I told him "I can see you, you know..." he made me laugh as he was soooo crestfallen.

'Scuse the dirty laundry on the floor, it was just waiting for its turn in the machine.

I was recently forced to do some ironing so that some clothes could be packed. I do not 'do' ironing and normally dress to the rule of 1) is it clean? and 2) does it need ironed? If the answer is yes and no, then it is fit to be worn. However, on this occasion I was forced to do a fair load of ironing, for the other human, I might add. Red took exception to the suitcase scenario which always worries him and he decided that he'd better stake his claim to whatever was going on!

Snow Bear, Gregory and Little Ted used to sit on my bed some years ago. Recently I found them while clearing out a wardrobe and all three were looking like a wash wouldn't go amiss. So I popped them in a lingerie bag and washed them. I laughed when Snow Bear came out looking rather the worse for wear and looked like I feel in the morning.

However, after a little brush she looked more like herself and ready to face the day!

Red is all exhausted and keeping his eyes closed as he hates the vet and the car journey. Magic is giving it longing looks to the outside.

I bought the new carriers as I was finding it difficult to carry both cats when I was on my own and to evict them from the carrier when we got to the vet. There was also the issue of remembering which cat had to go into which carrier. Red needed the small one despite the fact his is the bigger cat as he needs to be in the foot well otherwise he howls all the way if he can see the scenery rushing past. Magic on the other hand had to rattle around in the large one as she 'HAS' to see the scenery otherwise, she howls all the way. I did try strapping the old carriers into the back seat belts once but they both howled!

These ones come with a shoulder strap, can fit in either foot well or on the seat and also sneakily open at the top. They were expensive but were on special offer. I did initially want to get Red a 'boy' colour but as only the pink was on offer I didn't feel his machismo was worth paying an extra £20 for when he is only in it for short hops to the vet or cattery.

The carriers are a a little bulky but they are worth their weight in gold as you can open the top. When we got to the vet Red had sidled way back and was giving it his self-satisfied no chance you are getting me out look. So when the vet opened the top and lifted him out he put up no resistance and came out like a wet piece of spaghetti with an expression that was simultaneously bemused, affronted and scandalised at having been out foxed! The vet admitted she loves this type of carrier as there is no risky sticking your hand into a waiting set of claws or teeth to get the cat out or the alternative upending the carrier and shaking it like a ketchup bottle. Magic was fine, she just wanted to explore and kept trying to skydive off the table. The injection didn't go down well and as usual she tried to back away which meant she actually backed onto the needle and effectively gave herself her injection! Unfortunately both had fairly awful reactions to their vaccines, which is another post on its own.

I continue in my challenge to capture the size of the boy's paws. He seems to have stopped growing in height and length and is now putting on his adult weight as I can feel him getting a little heavier. The paws however still look like they belong to another beast entirely as they are huge, angora soft and almost cartoonish.

They are lovely tho' and he is perfectly happy for you to play with his paws when he is sleeping on your lap.